39* nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.RSV

This morning, my sermon is going to be a little different, than usual. It is going to evolve around four pictures of God’s love. Each picture will point to a different aspect of God’s love. For as you can see my the title of this sermon, I believe that God’s love is a very special love.

It is a love that is sometimes difficult for us to understand, a love that is difficult for us to accept, a love that is difficult for us to imagine, a love that never leaves us, a love that surrounds us in a very unique and special way. So for us to get a handle, or some kind of understanding about what Paul is speaking about in our second lesson, where Paul wrote those famous words about God’s love, as we read:

35* Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36* As it is written, "For thy sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

37* No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

39* nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.RSV

we will approach this topic in a unique way.

I would like you to picture yourself standing before the throne of God, in his law court. God is the judge, Satan is the prosecutor, and you are the defendant waiting to be tried for the things you did or did not do in this life. Satan then calls witness after witness against you and your head sinks low in shame as you remember some of the things you have done, and some of the things you should have done but didn’t do. Satan calls before you all those people you gossiped about, those people you thought were different than you, so you couldn’t accept them. Satan calls before you hungry boy who needed food, but you were to busy to pay attention, to busy with you own needs, your own interests, your own little world.

Then comes a lonely widow that you were to busy to visit. The parade of witnesses goes on and on. Finally, all of your sins of omission and commission have been vividly exposed before the court and you are wishing you could crawl into a hole somewhere, and hide.